DD: It didn't take long to see who the Nets' most indispensable guy is. After watching Harris beat Detroit all by himself, I'm sure they would have won those next two games. Whatta waste.
Tully

Tully: A quality point is always the most indispensable guy on the team, methinks, but injuries are part of the game - especially this year, it seems. As for whether they would have won at Indy and Miami, we'll never know, but you would have liked their chances of sustaining the momentum and attack mentality he established virtually by himself. That's not a knock on Keyon, but he's far better suited for reserve duty - he's the kind of guy who has to do his Tasmanian Devil routine for five- or six-minute bursts to be most effective, not the kind of guy who should play 36-38. He seems to have his drive-and-kick game clicking now, though. By the way, you might have to live with this for one more day: Devin got through the shoot today, and while the team hasn't decided whether to give back his uniform, he said he was only 66 percent (whatever that means) beforehand. My guess is he's still subject to the Walsh Rule ("Feelin' good? Swell. Come back tomorrow"), and they'll keep him tied down until Friday, but we'll find out for sure at 6.

Dave, why isn't Sean Williams getting any play? VC gushed about how much he improved, yet it appears he doesn't have a career with the Nets. And everyone crowed about how good Ryan Anderson is, but he can't get off the bench. Just wondering what good was the youth movement, if Najera, Simmons and Hassell get most of the playing time.
Randall

Randall: They said youth movement, not youth insurgency. Two kids at a time, please. Be satisfied with watching Yi and Lopez, because realistically, that is the maximum number of Head Start students a staff can deal with at a given time. And try to appreciate the dilemma: It makes no sense to throw an entire army of kids into the mix unless the team has a prolonged losing streak, and it becomes clear to everyone that the vets they're using won't help them win games. At that point, we'll all conclude that there are just too many C players and D players, not enough A's and B's, and the coach will have to come to grips with the fact that it's time to squeeze those guys who are potential A's and B's into the curriculum. It's a common predicament, one facing every coach who goes into a season with a roster like this one. Sometimes it sneaks up on him. He spends most waking hours thinking about stuff like, "What should we run to get these guys going?" Instead, he should be asking his GM, "Hey, how long before we can get some big-time guys in here?" Yes, every coach deals with this. If his team is in the dumpster, he can't acknowledge it until the C and D guys get stretched beyond the point of effectiveness. And when he finally asks the the GM, "Where are the big-time guys?" the GM invariably responds, "Small oversight - we don't have any." It's a talent league. They may not have enough of it right now, but one of these days, they'll get around to developing all of it.

Hey Dave: I'm torn. I don't know whether to join "The Great Homer Faction" that has probably being emailing you non-stop, or save my self-respect and realize that this season and the next couple of years is one big exploratory mission. I think I'm going with the second option. So forget the negative critiques: I'm going to praise what I have seen from some of the kids. Yi has really surprised me. I wasn't a big fan. But he's starting to be more consistent. I hate to throw around the terms "potential all-star", but yeah, he is. Swill, in my opinion, is gone by the trading deadline. I'd really hate to trade the kid.
Jackson

Hey, Jack: If you're referring to the folks grousing over the Brooklyn issue, yeah, we hear from them - and that's fine, I might feel the same way if I were a fan. But you've got the right approach: If this season isn't about gauging the development of Yi and Lopez and Boone and the others, what's the point? Sean is a separate case, because he's the last guy you expect to crack the rotation, so he's an afterthought until some shakeup occurs. I'd just as soon get Swift up to speed, and then send Sean to Colorado to get some game action. The D-League starts up in a few weeks, and the 14ers have a new coach (Bob MacKinnon Jr. -- name sound familiar?) who has a very good rep for talent development.

Dave: Been a season-ticket holder for the past 6 years or so, and I thought (as did some of the other loyals in 243) that the effort vs Detroit was the best collective team game I have seen in the past 3 years. The effort and the camaraderie that is on display is far superior to what we saw over the last few seasons. Aside from that - I was disappointed with Coach Frank not taking the foul trouble of Yi and dominating performance of Josh to try using Josh and Lopez together as the 4-5. I think that a front court 4-5 lineup of Josh and Brook would be very interesting to watch, and could very well be the front court of the future. And I hope that Coach Frank continues to work on the development of Ryan Anderson who I think will be a quality rotation player in this league
Ryan McGovern

Ryan: There aren't many 4-5 combos today that Josh and Brook could match up with in tandem - certainly not in Detroit, which would be Rasheed's cue to lob bombs on their heads. Don't expect either one to play any 4 this year - Josh is capable, but he was pretty much told he's a full-time 5. And don't worry about Ryan: They're not going to sleep on him. He's just lost the numbers game, but he'll eventually win it back - possibly sooner than you think, if this continues to be a 41-percent shooting team at the end of the month. As for effort and harmony, it's too early to be impressed - wait until after the first four-game losing streak, and we'll see whether it's still laudable.

DD: Tell Josh Boone to pick up this article from the WSJ last week about speed golf. Instead of 4-5 hours to play 18 holes, it takes 45-60 minutes. You sprint between shots. Yes! These people are crazy! But there's one amazing benefit: You can't think too much. Anyone who has ever played will tell you that the biggest problem is mental. People talk about "good golf thoughts." I'll readily admit that thinking can kill my already dreadful game. These speed golf players typically shoot below their average score. Some see vast improvement, and become scratch golfers. Why? Because the game becomes less deliberative and more reactive. True story: My best round of golf ever was in Japan about 11 years ago. It was a business thing: went out drinking sake until 4 am, woke up at 6 and drove 2 hours outside of Tokyo to play this course up in the hills with robotic golf carts (seriously). I hated being there and was so hung over that I could barely see. Thinking hurt, so I didn't do that. I just swung the club. I shot a 78 (six over, on a difficult course). So what did the people I played with do for me after the round? Bought me more sake, of course. Cruel bastards. I dunno if it makes sense with foul shots, but I reckon it could. If your mechanics are good, not over-thinking would seem to be a boon. . . .aw, c'mon! Don't lie! You knew I was going there!
Rufus T. Firefly

Groucho: Any idea if this also works with vodka, grapefruit juice, concussions, and lobotomies?

Dave: I've heard people saying that maybe Devin is better suited to the Avery Johnson control-everything style. What do you think?
Cliffy

Cliffy: Can't say that I've ever heard it, and can't see the point. As you may recall, Avery himself said he screwed up by not giving the kid more control and freedom, and that was cited as one of the (admittedly numerous) reasons why Dallas crashed last year. You can't put a governor switch on a Lamborghini.

Dave, could you please explain to me how Mr. Frank thinks playing Vince 30 minutes a game and taking 10-12 shots a game is good for the team? In each game there has been stretches where VC has stood in the corner for at least 8-10 straight possesions without even a single touch! Why this so called "qualified" coach keeps on doing this is beyond me!
Mike Caruso

MC: That's the drawback to giving Devin all that control and freedom - shot distribution isn't always the way it should be. But it evens out in the end. VC is averaging 17 shots in 35 minutes, and both those totals will rise gradually. And you still have to give these guys time to learn the breadth of the offense - if they actually started winning with Vince maintaining those totals, it would be the best thing for them, and him.

Hi Dave: How many times will we have to watch the Nets get burned from the 3-point line for someone to question the "pick your poison" defensive strategy employed since he became head coach? This idea that you can only do one (protect the paint for the perimeter) is an obviously flawed assumption. It is one thing to preach being a defensive team, but don't we need a defensive scheme that actually stops people? I bow to your expertise and insight.
Bob in Section 104

Bobbo: If I had the necessary expertise, I'd use it for a more practical purpose. Just console yourself in the fact that their defensive efficiency has improved five-fold since preseason, and that they're yielding fewer points and allowing a lower percentage than last year. That average free throw yield (33 per game, yikes), and average PFs/game (26.5, double-yikes) are going to have to come way down, though.